Latin rivals learn it takes two to tango
Argentina and Uruguay agree to share credit for the passionate dance in a bid for heritage status
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Rory Carroll and Oliver Balch in Buenos Aires
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009
Article history
Tango dancers in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photograph: Michel Setboun/Corbis
For a century, Argentina and Uruguay have duelled over who invented tango, the sultry music and dance synonymous with Latin passion.
Argentinians insist it was born in Buenos Aires and blossomed as the country came of age in the first half of the 20th century. Uruguay says tango originated on the other side of the River Plate in Montevideo, and that its best song and singer were Uruguayan.
The use of contested tunes at international cultural and sporting events, including the Olympics, snagged diplomatic relations and prompted accusations of cultural piracy.
At last, however, a truce has been declared. The respective culture ministries of Montevideo and Buenos Aires set aside their rivalry jointly to petition Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, to grant tango world heritage status. It takes two, apparently, to get on to the coveted list of "cultural heritage of humanity".
"The candidacy is being examined and the final decision will be made by the intergovernmental committee in September in Dubai," a Unesco spokeswoman said last week.
If approved, both cities plan to build a tango museum with permanent exhibits on each side of the Plate. Its primary goal will be to catalogue the estimated 50,000 tango recordings thought to be in existence.
Other joint plans include a dance institute to teach the intricacies of one of South America's most famous - and most complex - dance forms. A joint orchestra is also on the cards.
The impetus for collaboration stems from tango's explosion in popularity. As it swells into a global phenomenon, Argentina and Uruguay want to keep its roots intact.
"While it's good that tango is spreading around the world, alterations invariably begin to creep in. There are certain original elements that need to be preserved," said Eduardo León Duter, director of culture for Montevideo's city government. The UN's imprimatur would help protect tango's historic purity. "Obtaining Unesco status implies a determination by both countries to implement preservation policies, such as training, diffusion and cataloguing."
Last year's world tango championships in Buenos Aires drew 140 couples from overseas, up from just 30 in the first championship. The Argentinian capital generates about $100m annually in revenue from classes, shows, CDs and tango-themed hotels.
Tango has come a long way. Its exact origins are murky but the music, a blend of Spanish, African and central European rhythm, is believed to have emerged from European immigrants who populated the slums and bordellos of Buenos Aires in the 1880s. Lyrics that sang of nostalgia, loneliness, lust and betrayal were matched by a dance that was simultaneously sensual and aggressive.
The founding articles of the Buenos Aires-based National Tango Academy describe Argentina's "creative validity" over a musical form that serves as the "authentic and deep-rooted expression" of the nation. Tango represents Argentina around the world like few other national art forms, it says.
That claim steps on Uruguayan toes. The world's most popular tango song, "La Cumparsita", was composed by a Uruguayan, Gerardo Matos Rodrígues, 90 years ago. It has inspired more than 2,500 variations and in 1998 became the country's national hymn by presidential decree. Argentinians respond that the best known version of the song has lyrics written by an Argentinian, Pascual Contursi, and that the tune really took off only after Carlos Gardel, the most famous tango icon of all time and an Argentinian hero, recorded his own version in 1924. Beyond dispute is that Gardel's death in a plane crash in 1935 broke millions of hearts and drove several women to suicide. His flower-strewn grave in Buenos Aires competes with that of Eva Perón as the country's most famous tomb.
The sniping will go on, but if Unesco enshrines tango as a cultural jewel the rivals will be forced into each other's arms. It will be long overdue, said León Duter: "The dominant factor is that tango is something we share."
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